


let your heart be light.

by milominderbinder



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Christmas Party, Fluff, Healthy Relationships, M/M, Winter Celebrations, friends and family POV, tipsy Alec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-17 17:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13081344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milominderbinder/pseuds/milominderbinder
Summary: Magnus throws a festive party.  At different points of the night, Raphael, Catarina, Izzy, and Jace all reflect on just how much Magnus and Alec have changed since they got together -- and how much happier they seem.





	let your heart be light.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sssssssim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/gifts).



> MERRY CHRISTMAS/OTHER WINTERTIME CELEBRATION OF YOUR CHOICE <3 
> 
> this is one thousand percent pure sappiness woven into a party setting, and i hope you enjoy it

\--- 0 ---

 

When Magnus first mentions it, his plan is hidden inside a swathe of speech that is kind of making Alec's head hurt.   
  
"- and of course when I was growing up it wasn't Christmas, and practically every culture and religion has some different tradition or interpretation of ceremony or celebration this time of year, but I do think it's so important to mark the passage of time with joyous occasions. And a winter celebration, whatever the cultural name we give it, really adds a splash of happiness at the darkest point of the year, and gives a wonderful reason to mark the days getting brighter again as we move into a new year, and sort of fresh start for the world as the seasons turn, don't you think?"   
  
Alec, brow furrowed, runs this long string of words through his head very carefully. Then he filters it all through his own understanding of the holiday season in combination with his extravagant boyfriend, and says, "So, you're throwing a Christmas party?"    
  
Magnus beams at him.   
  
"Exactly, darling.  Now, take off your clothes.  I need to fit you for your suit."   
  
And, well, Alec is never one to deny his boyfriend anything.  He just sighs, and starts unbuttoning his shirt.

  
  
\--- 1 ---

  
The party rolls around quickly, as Magnus’s parties always seem to -- he doesn’t much believe in the concept of advance notice, apparently, but it doesn’t often matter because everybody knows his parties are so good that they’ll turn up anyway.  

Raphael, of course, is not the biggest fan of partying.  Especially Magnus’s parties, which tend to be raucous and pointless and go on for so many hours that Raphael once read  _ War and Peace  _ in one sitting while tucked away in the corner of one.  As a general rule, these days, he doesn’t attend Magnus’s parties at all; usually he just comes around the day after to bother Magnus while he’s hungover.

But this one was, for some reason, different.  Magnus had  _ specifically _ asked him to come, with some long speech about the magic of wintertime and found families and a lot of  _ don’t you still owe me for saving your life those last half-a-dozen times?   _

Raphael had huffed and complained but eventually given in, as he so often did with Magnus.  So here he is, lingering in the corner of Magnus’s loft wearing his best suit and a steely expression, a blood cocktail in one hand -- let it never be said that Magnus didn’t do a great job of catering to his guests -- watching the party unfold around him.

The strangest thing is that he isn’t actually hating it.

This is  _ different  _ than the sorts of parties Magnus has mostly thrown in the time Raphael has known him.  Oh, it’s still loud and energetic and wild, yes, but in a far softer way; there’s a live band playing music, but it’s actually possible to hear yourself think over it. There have been no violent displays of magic, and people don’t appear to be trying to have sex right in the middle of the room.  It’s cosy, the food is great, and although there are a lot of people there, it’s not too crowded for Raphael.

He’s as pleasantly surprised as he is confused -- at least, until he lays eyes on Magnus.  Standing across the room, he doesn’t seem to be the slightest bit drunk, but he does have a rather tipsy Shadowhunter draped across him.  Once upon a time, that would have been a very different statement, but all Raphael can see now is the soft way Magnus’s eyes are lit up, all adoration, as he pretends to fuss with the lapel of his boyfriend’s jacket.

“Nice party,” Raphael grudgingly says, later, when Magnus finally comes and pulls him out of the corner.  “More civilised than I expected.  I don’t think I’ve seen a single person throwing up fairy dust. Are you getting boring in your old age?”

Magnus playfully flicks him on the arm, but doesn’t look too upset. 

“There are some things even better than fairy dust.”  Magnus sounds like he’s trying to be wise, and would possibly have pulled it off if it was anybody other than Raphael, who knows precisely how much Magnus is still a silly child at heart.

Raphael considers teasing him or saying something snarky, which would be all too easy, but then he spots the way Magnus’s eyes have drifted into soft focus as Alexander Lightwood walks awkwardly into their line of sight on the other side of the room.  Even  _ Raphael _ can’t really bring himself to be sarcastic in that moment.  He’s too happy; happy to see a Magnus who isn’t so lost, isn’t so desperately searching for whatever he can find in every sort of overstimulation and entertainment available, doesn’t seem so hard around the edges.  The last few months have brought out a Magnus that Raphael always knew was there, but could never quite lay grasp on.  The sort of man would would take a hopeless teenage fledgeling under his wing just to make sure he didn’t have to face the downworld alone.

“It’s nice to see you happy,” Raphael says, just mumbling enough that he’s not sure whether Magnus will have heard him over the music, or that he will at least have plausible deniability on the sappiness.  Then he pats Magnus on the arm, and adds louder, “Feliz Navidad, Magnus.”

Magnus’s eyes finally leave Alec, and he beams.  “Merry Christmas, Raphael.”

 

\--- 2 ---

 

Jace can admit that he wasn’t sure about Magnus, at first, but after that stint of staying at the loft, he feels like they’ve finally found some common ground.  He doesn’t think Magnus is the best choice Alec could have made, maybe -- immortal warlocks with mysterious pasts aren’t who he’d pick for  _ any  _ of his family, let alone his most cautious and sensitive brother -- but Magnus himself is a good dude.  Especially when he keeps throwing parties like this.

Even back before he was such a fixture in their lives, Jace had heard about Magnus Bane’s parties.  They were supposedly  _ wild,  _ and the fact that he owned the den of pleasure that was Pandemonium only backed that up, so Jace had been expecting pretty spectacular things when he turned up.  And while this is great _ ,  _ it certainly isn’t what he’d pictured.  This is, actually, closer to Max’s rune celebration than some sort of downworlder rave.  

But there’s alcohol, and food, and his friends, so Jace isn’t complaining.  He does some mysteriously glittery shots with Izzy and bothers Simon and Maia at the bar for a bit before deciding to head off and find his big brother.  Despite it being his boyfriend’s party, Alec is the only one Jace hasn’t seen much of all night, and he’s dying to know how Alec is responding to this much casual fun.  Jace wouldn’t be surprised if Alec’s been dashing back to the Institute at fifteen-minute intervals to make sure his paperwork isn’t running away without him there.

Maybe that’s why it’s so surprising when Jace  _ does  _ spot him.

Alec’s not fretting in the corner, or checking his phone, or trying to sneak out of the window while everyone’s backs are turned -- all the things he’d done at every party Jace ever tried to drag him to when they were younger.  Instead, the reason Jace hasn’t spotted him before is that Alec seems to be  _ too  _ caught up in the fun.  He’s stood right in the middle of the crowd, his head tipped back in laughter and his cheeks flushed pink from either alcohol or fun.  And his arms are wrapped tight around the shoulders of Magnus Bane himself.

“Stop it, stop it!” Alec is mumbling between giggles, and then suddenly shoves his head into the crook of Magnus’s neck.  His long legs are going all bandy at the knees, and he definitely seems like he’s had a few drinks, especially considering the empty wine glass dangling between his fingers.  Jace’s eyebrows shoot up, although it’s not like Alec’s never had a drink before.  He’s just never had  _ much.   _

“It’s your fault!” Magnus is saying back, although he seems amused in a far more sober way.  “If only you didn’t look so good in a suit --”

Jace has clearly missed a lot of the conversation, but even he can admit that Alec  _ does  _ look good tonight, if that’s what they’re talking about.  Magnus has dressed him -- Jace knows, because Alec complained for an hour during training the other day about having to go to a suit fitting and how he doesn’t understand how clothes can cost such a ludicrous amount of money, but he’d been smiling the whole time.  

“Hey, bro,” Jace says, deciding to cut into their conversation and going over to clap Alec on the shoulder cheerfully.  With a nod, he adds, “Magnus, man, great party.  Two seelies just fed me eggnog for the first time.”

Magnus snorts and goes to respond, but Jace doesn’t end up hearing it at all, because just then he notices something -- Alec is tucking his hand into Magnus’s back pocket.  It’s not that in itself which is shocking, of course, but it’s the casual way Alec  _ does  _ it.  

It strikes Jace all at once.  He thinks about his brother this time last year and his brother now, and it’s like they’re two different people.  Or, not  _ different,  _ but it’s like the Alec who used to only live on the inside, terrified of being discovered in any way, has been allowed to flourish into who he really is.  The Alec of a year ago would never have dropped a casual intimate touch onto his boyfriend at a crowded party.  The Alec of a year ago wouldn’t have had a boyfriend at all.  

Jace doesn’t know whether it’s specifically Magnus, or whether Alec would have come out of his shell this much if he’d fallen for anyone, but he supposes it doesn’t really matter now.  Magnus is the one Alec chose.  And, to be honest, Jace thinks he can finally see why.

He was planning on staying and bothering them for longer, but the way Magnus looks up at Alec as soon as they touch, with starstruck eyes and an almost inhuman sort of tenderness, Jace suddenly feels like he’s intruding.  He gives Alec one more tap on the arm, gentler this time, and says, “Well, I just wanted to come say hey.  Enjoy the party, yeah?  Merry Christmas, Magnus.”

With that, Jace heads off to see if any of the seelie girls want to dance.  He’ll leave the real lovebirds alone for a while, he decides.  It feels a bit like their happiness is powering the energy of the entire party; it would be a shame to ruin that.

 

\--- 3 ---

 

It’s not often enough that Catarina gets to see Magnus, these days.  She has lived a very, very long time, and she’s known Magnus for a lot of that, so she knows they don’t have to see each other every week -- sometimes not even every decade -- to remain close, to still be family.  But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t  _ want  _ to see him.  By this point, Catarina almost entirely sees Magnus as a brother.  An energetic, chaotic little brother with a heart of gold and a wide chasm of sadness cutting through him that he doesn’t let most of the world see.

A lot of their mutual friends keep saying how Magnus seems happier these days.  No matter how much the downworld might mistrust Shadowhunters, nobody who cares about Magnus can deny that Alec Lightwood is having a wondrous effect on him.  But Catarina thinks she might be the only who’s noticed some the real depth of it.  Magnus doesn’t just seem changed for the better because Alec is making him happier; she actually thinks it’s doing Magnus a world of good to let Alec see the  _ sad  _ parts of him too.  There are things that not even she has ever been able to get Magnus to open up about, and in just a few short months, the Lightwood boy has dragged out half his past.  

Catarina wouldn’t have expected that, but it pleases her more than she knows how to put into words.

At the party, she spends a little while missing Ragnor, and remembering all the winter celebrations she shared with him and Magnus together.  But she doesn’t let herself linger in gloom for too long; nights off are rare enough in her line of work, and she has a glass of champagne in her hand, so she fully intends to make the most of it.  She dances with a few old friends and listens to some fascinating stories one werewolf is telling around the crackling fireplace, before finally heading off to try and drag Magnus into some reminiscing.

She finds him, of course, under the mistletoe.  He’s not kissing his Shadowhunter just at that moment, but they had either just finished or were just about to begin, standing very close and looking at each other with all sorts of giddiness in their eyes.  They haven’t even noticed her walk up.

“Remember the enchanted mistletoe in Paris?” she asks wryly, sliding up to Magnus’s side and giving a conspiratory look to Alec beside him.  “It wouldn’t let us out from underneath it until we French kissed.  We stood in that pantry for an hour trying to break the enchantment before we finally just gave in.”

“Our one and  _ only  _ romantic encounter,” Magnus promises, with a roll of his eyes, but still takes a full two more seconds to finally look away from Alec and meet her eyes.  He’s smiling, and it looks like it reaches every part of him.  “So, are you having fun, my dear?”

His arm has gone automatically around Alec’s waist, the two of them drawn to each other like magnets, and she lets herself be amused by it for a moment.  Oh, to be young and in love.  It’s been far too long since Catarina felt those butterflies, but she can still remember what it’s like.

“The only thing which could make this night better is if I could coerce the host into a dance,” she tells him, flicking her eyes over to Alec playfully.  “Can you bear to be separated for a single song?”

“He’s all yours,” Alec says, although he takes a long moment to actually move away.  His limbs look a little too loose, and she has a feeling he’s probably had as much champagne as she has, but a lot less experience drinking it.  He looks positively adorable; all pink-cheeked and messy-haired, his eyes a little wide like he’s having to concentrate on the world slightly more than usual.  No wonder Magnus has fallen so hard.  “I think I see my sister by the drinks table, anyway.”

“Get her to make you walk in a straight line before she serves you another one,” Magnus says, with a laugh, and pats Alec’s arm as he veers away.

As soon as he’s gone, Catarina tugs Magnus around to the crowd, and they assume the position of a familiar dance.  For a while they sway to a slow but jolly Christmas tune, just drinking in the atmosphere.  The warmth of the fire and the peals of laughter and delighted stories and mellow music and clinking glasses all seem to curl up into one great thing, and it settles inside Catarina with a heavy sort of joy.

But she’s never been happier than when she looks at Magnus’s face and sees him dancing with his eyes closed, corners of his mouth turned up, the warm lights of the room flickering across his glimmering makeup.  He looks  _ content. _

“Ragnor would be so proud of you,” she tells him, with a conspiratory squeeze of his waist.  Magnus’s eyes flicker open and stare at her, but he doesn’t look exactly sad. __ “He wouldn’t say it, the old grump, but he would be.  He wanted you to sort your life out more than any of us.”

“It’s hard, being without him at this time of year, isn’t it?”  Magnus spins her around just as the music hits a particularly jaunty note, and then he laughs, his voice gone all soft.  “He always did hate Christmas, but he’d put up with us when we insisted on spending it together anyway.”

“It is hard,” she agrees.  “But seeing you so happy makes it easier.”

“You’re getting sappy now.  What have you done with the real Catarina?”  Magnus laughs, and she graciously pretends not to notice how he sounds just a little bit choked up.  The last few notes of the song chime out, and Magnus twirls her one last time before letting go of her hand and squeezing her shoulders instead.  “Merry Christmas, Cat.”

“Merry Christmas, Mag.”

As he smiles at her one last time and then immediately heads off to the table where Alec is trying to wrestle a flute of champagne off his little sister, Catarina thinks that no matter what, Magnus is going to be okay.

 

\--- 4 ---

 

It’s not like Izzy is her brother’s keeper.  He’s an adult in a safe environment, and there is  _ plenty  _ for her to do at a beautiful downworlder Christmas party without following her big brother around and checking up on him -- but still, whenever he crosses her eyeline, she can’t help but keep a mental tally of how many drinks he’s getting through.

The first glass of wine isn’t that unusual in a post-Magnus era, and the champagne that follows it seems appropriate for the party.  The two strange cocktails she sees him sipping within ten minutes of each other are more unusual, as is the spiked eggnog she watches him take off Jace and then drink himself.  She’s not concerned, not at all, but she’s more finding it endlessly amusing as she watches the tops of his cheeks get pinker and pinker, and his tufts of hair get messier and messier like they somehow know what’s going on, and he seems at least twice as happy every time he gets to drape himself over Magnus’s body.  Which is a lot.  In between dancing with Clary and Simon and Jace and Meliorn and Lydia and several handsome downworlders she’s had past trysts with, Izzy watches, and it doesn’t escape her notice that Magnus and Alec barely leave each other’s sides all night.

Eventually, Magnus gets dragged off to dance by somebody else, and Izzy immediately beckons Alec towards her.  His feet land in more erratic steps than usual and he looks a little confused by the way he’s walking, which has her in fits of giggles by the time he even reaches the table where she’s stood.

“Hey, Iz,” he says, trying to ruffle her hair but missing.  “Oh, good, we’re by the drinks.  Magnus thinks I’m drunk, but I’m not.  I think I should have more champagne.”

Izzy wouldn’t call this  _ drunk  _ by most people’s standards, but he is definitely more tipsy than she’s ever seen him, and she’s not sure if letting him get the champagne he’s reaching for is a good idea.  Alec isn’t a fan of being out of control, usually, and she doesn’t want him to feel gross tomorrow if he wakes up with his first proper hangover.  Luckily, he seems to be extremely suggestible, because he doesn’t even notice when she bats his hand away from the drinks.

“Talk to me for a while instead,” she suggests, smoothing down the jacket of the very handsome suit Magnus has managed to persuade him into.  “I’ve barely seen you all night.  Are you having fun with Magnus?”

It’s the magic word.  The second she says his boyfriend’s name, Alec lights up brighter than a Christmas tree.

“Isn’t he great at throwing parties?  I was kind of scared I wouldn’t like this and then I’d hurt his feelings by having a bad time, but everything here is so perfect.  I feel  _ cosy.   _ Is that the right word?”

“It’s a very cosy party,” Izzy assures him, pressing her lips together to contain a giggle.  It’s certainly true.  She’s not sure she’s ever felt so festive in her whole life.  Sensing an opportunity to do some investigating on an Alec without a filter, she cheekily adds, “You know, you never tell me enough details of how things are going between you two.  You  _ still  _ haven’t told me how he is in bed.”

Alec’s brow furrows very seriously.  “I’m not going to tell you that,” he informs her.   _ Okay,  _ Izzy thinks,  _ he’s still Alec when he’s tipsy. _

“O kay , big brother.  Just at least tell me that you’re happy?”  

Alec gives her a strange look.

“Of course I am.”

It might be the stupidest question Isabelle has ever asked in her life.  She has seen the evidence in every part of their lives over the past few months.  She has seen a terrified, angry, self-hating, repressed Alec turn into the confident, incredible man he is now.  A man who will kiss his boyfriend in public and stick up for downworlders in front of the whole Clave.  A man who is even comfortable enough with his identity to wear some of the nice clothes Magnus gets for him, no longer just a soldier in black who lives for his duty.  

….And, she notices, a man who is currently trying to steal a tray of champagne flutes from the table behind her.

“Alec, put those down!” she protests, through peals of laughter, and wrestles the glasses out of his hands.  Alec is smiling the whole time.

Looking up at this new version of her big brother, and the way his face lights up even more when Magnus comes back over to join them, Izzy can’t help but think that this year has been one of the best ones of their lives.


End file.
